Is Fallout 4 Worth Buying?!

War, War never changes. With each successful Fallout game many people have asked how Bethesda can keep the dystopian post-apocalyptic series going. Some series tend to get stale as they move forward, never really presenting new ideas or re-inventing the things that made previous titles so good. So the question most people are asking is… Is Fallout 4 worth buying?

The Details

Let’s go into a little detail about what Fallout 4 is. Fallout 4 is the sequel to Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, putting us in Post-Apocalyptic Boston in the year 2277. Unique to the Fallout franchise, Fallout 4 allows players to see a glimpse at what life was like in the “Commonwealth” prior to the bombs going off. Once you get deeper into the game, you also get a fantastic view of how the survivors have picked up the pieces 200 years later and have reinvented themselves.

Factions & Settlements

There are 3 factions that oppose one another, with a fourth faction that plays nice with everyone; The Minutemen are this fourth faction and they enable you to access a large (yet slightly optional) part of the game that allows you to build and run settlements, creating outposts where you can either let settlers move in, or simply use them for resources. There are a ton of building materials and things to use, which allow you to make your own house, as well as allowing you to set up the settlement however you want as long as you can keep your settlers happy.

The rest of the gameplay plays out like other Fallout games, where you explore the open world of the commonwealth and are able to kill raiders, deathclaws, and any number of things while also lockpicking, hacking and cooking if you so wish. I have completed two play-throughs of Fallout 4, siding with two different factions. Each faction provides a different story element to explore, a different side of the overarching conflict surrounding the clandestine Institute and the kidnapping of your son Shaun. Each play-through (even without the DLC) will clock in at 60 hours on the low end though I find myself spending at least 100 hours between settlement building and quest exploration.

Fallout 4 DLC

Speaking of the DLC, whether the DLC is worth buying to you will largely depend on your playstyle. Regardless of how you play you’ll want to get the Far Harbor and Automatron DLCs as they provide new quests, places to explore, and companions to take with you. If you are interested in settlement building and upkeep, you might be interested in the Wasteland Workshop DLC as well as the new Contraptions Workshop DLC that released on the 21st of June. These DLC provide new things to build, new wall types, resources, and the Wasteland Workshop DLC in particular allows you to trap creatures to protect your settlements or even fight your settlers.

Customization

Fallout 4 allows you to play your way, with a fully customizable character building system, craft-able modifications for armor and weaponry, as well as companions who have their own quests and personalities for you to explore. While there are bugs with the settlements and with a few other things (mainly on consoles) both Fallout 4 and its DLC will offer hours and hours of fun gameplay with plenty of things to do in the commonwealth and beyond.

Is Fallout 4 Worth Buying?

The short answer to this question is yes. The longer answer is that Fallout 4 provides endless customization for players to enjoy the Commonwealth as they see fit. Do you like stealth? You can build your character that way. Do you prefer heavy weapons like miniguns? You can build your character that way as well. Fallout 4 on PC also has mod support, but this time console gamers can get in on the fun as well. Mod support for Fallout 4 is already available on Xbox One, and will be forthcoming on PlayStation 4 as Bethesda is having issues getting the mod support to work properly on the PlayStation 4.

Fallout 4 can be purchased for $59.99 (which includes the season pass). The regular version generally goes for about $30.00 (in the US) as of today. I wholeheartedly believe that Fallout 4 is worth every penny, as there is so much that can be experienced and enjoyed in a single playthrough that even if you were to only enjoy one playthrough you’d still get your money’s worth out of the game.

Whether you are setting up settlements, building, or wandering the commonwealth in search of things to kill, there is always something to do in the game. Add a stellar cast into the mix, plenty of quests and places to explore, and you have a recipe for greatness. With mod support on both PC and console this makes the replay value even vaster, as you can change the game however you want to make it more fun for you. That’s not even including the recently announced Virtual Reality version of Fallout 4, which will allow VR owners to be able to enter Fallout 4 directly and enjoy it however they like.

War, War never changes, but Fallout 4 changed things in a great way, and gave fans plenty of things to enjoy and sink their teeth into.